Forest Of Nightmares
by fantasticly-anonymous
Summary: What happens when Eddie and Venom, that frightening duo, find themselves at the mercies of a forested wilderness? No tasty humans to be found and no big game showing itself either? Starve? Starve.
1. The Liver

"We've been surviving off nothing but squirrels and roots for _days_. We're gonna die out here, aren't we?!" Eddie's plaintive cry echoed through the high branches of the trees they were laying under. One hand over their stomach, trying to ease the perpetual empty feeling that was absolutely _living_ there since-

 **I am the one** ** _catching_** **us these 'squirrels', who, while overly furry and petite, are keeping us alive. So I would suggest complaining to someone** ** _else_** **.** Venom rumbled from where he was snuggled down for the night. Somewhere deep inside and just a little to the right of their heart.

"Hey, does my liver feel like it's smaller today than it was yesterday?"

 **Looks as shriveled and damaged by alcohol as usual.**

" _Venom_?"

 **...** ** _I'm_** **not the one who wanted to interview the most infamous gunrunner this side of Singapore in a screaming, flying, metal death trap.** Venom reasoned. Hating that he sounded petulant. And hungry.

"Oh, really, now this is _my_ fault?"

 **Always was.**

"Right, but I seem to recall somebody 'interrupting' my interview because he wanted to **eat** a terrorist. Pretty sure this is all _your_ fault."

 **How was I supposed to know that the bodyguards would start shooting at us?**

"Because that's generally what happens when someone holding a submachine gun sees their boss swallowed up by a giant, carnivorous monster!" Eddie keened, voice echoing back at them twice before they were once again completely alone.

 **I only ate half of her.**

"Still ate her. Right in front of them."

 **Well... how was I supposed to know that the ricochets would depressurize the cabin, destroy one engine,** ** _and_** **kill both pilots, causing us to tailspin until the tank caught fire, blowing up the entire thing?**

"I don't know, man. Kinda sounds to me like you knew _exactly_ what you were doin'," Eddie said. Trying to ignore the way they could barely see any stars through the tight knit branches above.

 **We survived.** Venom pointed out.

" _Barely_! You remember how many of my bones were broken after that fall? You know that hurts, don't you?"

 **Well,** ** _you_** **were too busy covering your eyes to warn me when the ground got close!**

"I-I... I don't do well with heights."

 **You mean you're** ** _terrified_** **of them! We climb even one measly fire escape and** ** _I_** **have to do all the work.**

"Whatever, man," said the soft, squishy human as he crossed his arms over their chest. Tone anything but soft and squishy.

Venom gave him a good thirty seconds in which to continue, but when his other half didn't, he gave him a mental nudge. Then spoke up.  
 **Eddie?** No response. **Eddie?** Like poking a wet noodle. **I thought we were engaging in some playful banter? Arguing is one of your favorite activities, is it not?**

Eddie snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

 **Ah. This is one of those 'loser things', isn't it?** Venom guessed with a snort of his own. **What? Did the other flesh sacks make fun of your utterly baseless fear while you were in your impressionable 'developmental' stage of life?**

"You _know_ they did." His other half said as Venom felt himself reminded of a nearly thirty year old memory of a tree house wreathed in taunting faces, pointing up and insisting the one crying inside was a 'big baby'.

Oh. Right.  
 **So it's** ** _not_** **one of those 'loser things'?** The symbiote asked as he realized Eddie was getting better at the whole 'using his mind to communicate' thing. And that the memory wasn't what was bugging the human.

"No. Though you don't have to call it that _every_ time," Eddie lied in a very killjoy sort of whine.

When the melancholy reporter's mood didn't improve immediately, Venom's resolve broke and he caved. Finally answering the question his host had opened with.  
 **Fine. Yes.**

"Yes? Yes _what_?"

 **Yes, your liver does feel smaller today. But only because these 'squirrels' have such inferior, maladjusted organs.**

"I just- just don't like the feeling of having my insides nibbled away at. Feels like dying in slow motion."

Ah. So _that_ was the reason for his Eddie's low spirits, Venom thought as he cuddled himself just a vein closer to their heart. Hoping the proximity might help keep the beating thing company through their unsheltered night.  
 **...I am sorry. If I do not 'nibble', I will waste away. I do not want to leave you alone in this** ** _nightmare_** **forest, where there is no food to be found and so little water we are reduced to sucking the dew from moss and grass.**

"... I know, buddy," Eddie whispered on a contrite sigh. "I don't like this place either."

 **If you go to sleep, you can pretend we are somewhere else for eight hours. Give or take.**

"Take, _definitely_. The kinks the ground's been giving me get worse every night," Eddie grumbled as he put a hand under his head in the pitiful hopes of cushioning it.

Venom didn't say anything to that, knowing Eddie would get to sleep sooner if he _didn't_ mention the fact that those relatively minor discomforts were all his symbiote's doing. Or, rather, that Venom was choosing _not_ to help with them. As doing so would take energy. The type of energy that just functioning was eating up faster than they could find living flesh to replenish.

So, yeah. Was actually a **good** thing, if you thought about it _rationally_ , that they'd eaten that half a gunrunner before they crashed to a foresty grave.  
Meant it would take them that much longer to starve to death. And avoiding starving to death was something Venom wanted for them _very_ , **very** badly.

 **Aw! Poor things! Let's hope things are looking up for them!**  
 **Then again, this is a survival situation, so probably gonna get worse before it** ** _thinks_** **about getting better. ;D**


	2. The Lungs

**The continuing tale of two adorable idiots trapped in a forest. Will they survive the harsh-ish conditions? Will they survive each other?**  
 **Only time will tell.**

"Man, if we keep walking like this, my legs are gonna fall off. Can we just _sit_ for a while?" Asked the hopeless excuse for a survivalist in a pathetic sort of whine.

 ** _No_** **, we cannot 'just sit' a while!** Insisted Venom as he pushed their keister _away_ from the fallen tree carcass attempting to lure his human to distraction.  
 **We must keep moving. Otherwise, we may never find** ** _food_** **.**

"Or _civilization_ , right? We're looking for that too, aren't we? Wait," said Eddie as he stopped to spin in a ridiculous, confused circle. "Are we traveling north? Uh-oh, I think we're heading north. I _told_ you there's nothing north! Nothing but wolves, bears, lower temperatures, and **death**!"

Venom gave an internal sigh and imitated a noise he'd observed parents make when attempting to calm particularly young, unhappy children. A sort of soft hushing sound. Thinking it _very_ amusing when Eddie did calm some.  
 **What makes you think we are traveling 'north'?**

"It's getting harder to breathe. North around here should mean higher altitudes as well, so-"

 **We are not traveling north.** Venom insisted as he nudged Eddie to keep their legs moving. **It is like you said: predators one way, nice juicy humans the other. We are searching for your precious 'civilization' as quickly as we can. Which would be considerably faster if we could find something larger than one of those detestable 'squirrels' on which to feed.** Venom made sure Eddie ducked under a low growing branch the human obviously hadn't noticed before continuing. **Those things are barely fit for a** ** _snack_** **, let alone a filling-**

 **Squirrel!** Proclaimed Venom as he brought them up short and pointed their head in the direction of the telltale rustling he'd heard. Priming their legs like springs and sniffing the air as he searched the tree's green canopy above. Extending claws from their fingers when he caught sight of the furry pestilence up on a branch not so far off.

Even with all the noise of Eddie's tromping and complaints, the woodland rodent whose only purpose in life was to vex all comers and _survive_ hadn't noticed them.

 _Good._

"Uh, wait a sec," whispered the reluctant half of their killing machine as they crouched. _Ready_. "Isn't that kinda **high**?"

 **For food,** ** _nothing_** **is too high.**

And they pounced.

And they made it. Just not quite to the branch with the squirrel. The squirrel who now _had_ noticed them. With its twitchy nose and beady little eyes which seemed to glimmer with a hint of recognition. The same kind of glimmer that all stupid little animals eyes shone with when they locked with theirs- with a _hunter's_ and realized what they were faced with.  
The squirrel's eyes spoke of **danger.**

And then it turned tail and skittered.

"Well, that suck-"

 _ **Food!**_

And they were off. Chasing their first chance at a halfway _to_ halfway decent meal in over a day through a maze of branches that weren't designed to support the weight of a creature their size.  
Especially not one traveling the same speed as a tiny squirrel. One that was-

"Getting _away_."

 **Not on our watch!** Insisted Venom as he jumped them from one tree to another, right on the sleek little scoundrel's tail. Mindful, even in his rush, to aim for the thick branches.

Wasn't until they landed, slippery squirrel already priming for another jump, that Venom noticed how tight their chest was feeling. Nor how light in the head his host was getting.  
But if he just predicted the squirrel's next move correctly, they'd have _food_. Meager as it was.

So he pointed them where he was sure the squirrel was headed and jumped. Pleased when the fuzz ball jumped in the same moment, heading for the exact same place.  
The confusion hit him when the squirrel lit lightly on its twig, and they came up short of their branch by over a foot.

Then, a frisson of dread filled their empty stomach, accompanied by the feeling of weightlessness indicative of a long drop.  
Right before the ground came up to meet them with a worrying crunch.

XxxxxxxxXxxxxxxXxxxxxxX

They woke up at the same time. A tangle of limbs and twigs in a heap on the forest floor.  
A pained groan alerting Venom that there was something **wrong** with one of those limbs.

To take his friend's attention off the feeling of what was definitely a broken bone, he opened with some of that playful banter Eddie liked so much.  
 **Great. You did it again. You closed our eyes when we fell.**

No response but a whined sob when the human twitched and a small grinding sounded from their left ulna.  
Damn, Venom thought as he inspected the damage, Eddie _hated_ compound fractures. For good reason too: hurt more than other types. Also took more effort to heal.  
 **Humans. Never learn.**

" _You're_ the one who diminished our lung capacity," Eddie gasped past the shock of his bone pulling itself back under the skin. Back where it belonged. Impressing the symbiote ever so slightly with his... astute observation.

 **At least I** ** _nibbled_** **both instead of** ** _eating_** **one.** Venom said with a hint of exasperated reproach.

"..."

 **Eddie?**

"...I don't like you very much right now."

 **That's the shock talking. Don't worry; the feeling will pass. After all, I** ** _am_** **the best thing to happen to your sorry existence since the day you were born.**

"I doubt that very much."

 **...Which part?**

"All of it. Definitely all of it."

 **Well. That's just rude. Maybe I'll leave us a nice scar to remind you who does the** ** _healing_** **around h-**

" _Venom_."

Venom couldn't help but chuckle privately at the rebuke, even as he finished knitting the bone back together and made sure the puncture wound bled just enough more that it was cleared of all dirt and grass.  
 **Fine. I'll leave a scar because we haven't** ** _eaten_** **anything in forever and I'll fix it when we do. Unless you grow attached.**

"To a brand new, sizable, completely unexplained _scar_? I don't think so."

 **Just offering. Some might say scars are...** ** _alluring_** **.** Venom said, hoping to distract his easily distressed companion when he gave the arm a once over and realized the break hadn't been the only injury. Just the worst one.

"I don't know where you hear these things but-"  
Venom chose that time to pop their left shoulder into its socket. Making sure the wrenched ligaments and muscles were able to keep it stabilized before calling it a done deal.  
" _Ow_!" Eddie exclaimed as he bolted to a sit and clutched at their arm, "Jeez, what the- That was out of joint? This whole time?!"

 **I pulled it back into place.** Venom defended. Feeling rather underappreciated.

"Yeah, but it being _out_ in the first place is the problem! It's stiff now," Eddie complained, in one of his bigger understatements; the wince at the end more than warranted. "What if it never works the same again?"

 **That won't be the case if we find** ** _food_** **, and we won't live long enough for it to be much of an issue if we don't.** Venom pointed out. Helpfully.

"Oh, God, we _are_ gonna die out here, aren't we?"

 **Quit being a baby and start walking. We're not gonna find food by sitting here, crying and cradling our** ** _repaired_** **arm.**

"...I **really** don't like you right now."

And that was the last either of them said to the other until they'd walked as far as their tired, worn out, dehydrating body would take them. At which time, Venom suggested they slump against a tree for the night.

Eddie nodded and did just that, cringing when it jostled their swollen shoulder. Then, the usually _more_ than talkative human sighed and licked their hopelessly dry and cracking lips.  
Venom couldn't blame him.

As the sun finished setting somewhere largely out of view, plunging their world back once more into one of bleak, murky colors and semidarkness, Venom once again snuggled in close to their heart. Enjoying the steadiness of its beating and doing his best to ignore thoughts of what other near deaths awaited them with the sunrise.

Then their stomach rumbled. Reminding both of them that starvation was waiting for them just around the corner.

Fitting last thought for an abysmal day.

 **Oh my gosh, the first chapter got so much love! I'm serious when I say that y'all made my week. Every day since this went up the favorites, the follows, and the words of encouragement have all been wonderful!  
So thanks a bunch and I hope y'all liked the second chapter just as much!**


	3. The Break

**Woah, that last chapter was pretty rough on the boys, wasn't it? They could probably use a break right about now, huh?**  
 **Or... maybe a break from all the unexpected 'breaks'. Heh heh.**

Strangely enough, thought Venom as tired eyes opened to a grey morning, they hadn't mysteriously died in their sleep.  
In fact, as he took stock of their soggier than usual self, then looked around at a less sunny than usual forest, the symbiote realized that something truly wonderful had happened.  
The sky had cried.

"You mean it rained? Water from the sky is called _rain_ , Venom."

 **Good morning to you too.** The half awake symbiote grumbled back.

"Yeah, well, where there's rain, there's water. Means we better move before the ground soaks it all-"

Venom snapped awake, fully alert when Eddie's sentence cut off in a curse. The attempt to get their feet under them abandoned as the human's entire damaged side reminded them of the failure they'd suffered the day before.  
The failure to catch even the most basic of meals. And Venom's failure to keep his host from injury.

Or, from _further_ injury, anyway.

"Oh, _jeez_ , that smarts," informed Eddie as the indecisive human wavered between almost clutching at their shoulder and _not_ putting a hand anywhere near it. Unsure which would cause him more pain.

 **You'll feel better after we have some water.** Venom suggested. Trying not to think about the possibility, remote as it might be, that his fragile host... wouldn't have gotten hurt if it weren't for him.  
But no, ridiculous, thought Venom as Eddie struggled to a stand and started on their search for _water_. After all, the human would never have survived the plane crash if it weren't for him.

So _there_.

A beautiful picture came haltingly into view as Eddie staggered them around a particularly large tree's trunk:  
A small break in the never ending forest- a glen, absolutely dotted in a plethora of soggy, sparkling, _wet_ , puddles of all shapes and sizes.

Never had either of them been happier to see a rain soaked field in his life.

Eddie just about teared up.

So they found themselves the biggest, cleanest of the rain water puddles and spent some time laying on their belly in the spongey grass, sucking water straight from the forest floor. And when they finally had their fill, they flopped over, mindful of the bad shoulder, and just laid there. Sighing as they watched a handful of residual, fluffy clouds do their thing up above. Reveling in the feeling of a full belly.  
Even if it was only full of water.

Venom let his human lay around until their stomach started 'digesting', then nudged him to top them off and begrudgingly insisted that it was high time they get moving again. Back on the imagined, invisible trail towards civilization. And, hopefully, that much closer to the meal they so desperately needed.

Thankfully, it was easier to keep Eddie _walking_ now that they'd had a decent drink. And thanks to the widespread dispersal of the puddles, it wasn't hard to keep them topped up, even as they made good time in their never ending walk to salvation. Or, in the direction that both of them had decided was most likely to lead them somewhere _other_ than **more** forest.  
Eventually.

"What I wouldn't give for a sandwich right about now." The first thing the beleaguered traveler had said in quite some while.

Venom hummed in agreement. The hum coming out a little bit more like a growl when he imagined this fabled sandwich having a beating heart. And four, flailing, _human_ limbs.

After a few additional minutes of leisurely trudging, Eddie cleared his throat and pointed off to one side.  
"The puddles're getting smaller."

 **Yes.** Venom hadn't wanted to say anything when he'd noticed it himself. Some time before.

"We can't take any with us, can we?"

 **No.** Venom knew lying wouldn't help. Especially not since Eddie already knew the answer. Painfully obvious as it was.

The human stumbled a few steps as he narrowly avoided spraining an ankle tromping on a rock neither of them had noticed, then had to stand still and **breath** through the shouted complaints the jostling missteps wrung from their shoulder.

Hm. Maybe they should have been daydreaming about a sling.

Somewhat out of breath, Eddie straightened back up and winced. Then, without prompting, he started moving again. An impressive improvement over the usual, even if it was a hair slower than before.  
"We're gonna die out here... aren't we?" The question didn't feel as out of left field as it should have.

 **You can still walk, right?** Venom asked in the most unconcerned tone he could muster.

"Barely."

 **Then we're going to be fine.** The symbiote insisted. Even as he felt his cells tighten in an unexpected spell of sympathetic worry. Or maybe guilt. After all, His human wasn't supposed to suffer. Not like this. Not while _he_ was around.  
No, Eddie was supposed to be safe and sound at home, curled up with his laptop and an endless supply of golden brown potato nuggets, editing the interview he'd 'scored' with that infamous gunrunner that Venom had ended up eating half of.

Hm. When a symbiote thought of it _that_ way, kinda made him not want to think about it at all.  
Made him want to curl up in a tight little ball around the steady beating organ he'd taken up near, ready to protect the squishy thing from all comers. Seeing as there wasn't much else he could do for his host at the moment.

But smothering Eddie's heart wouldn't help near as much as simply helping the guy remember why it was he was walking. So Venom compromised by snuggling into his customary place just to one side of the muscle and pointedly _not_ mentioning the fact that the temperature had been climbing ever since they'd gotten up.  
Eddie'd figure it out soon enough. Or at least, once the last of the water had disappeared and they were halfway to their first ever heatstroke.

"You think anyone's noticed?"

 **?** Now _that_ was straight out of left field.

"Back home. You think anyone's noticed we haven't been home? Or to work? Or that we haven't walked through the park and made fun of the ducks when they can't catch the stale breadcrumbs we throw over their heads?"

 **The ducks.**

"Huh?"

 **The ducks definitely noticed. They** ** _hate_** **it when we throw the whole stick of rock hard bread at them.**

"You mean when _you_ throw the day old baguettes at them. And get _me_ in trouble with the park patrol because you 'can't control yourself'."

Venom chuckled at the indignant tone his co-conspirator took with him. It was all the funnier because, while Eddie never _encouraged_ such activity, he damn sure never tried to _stop_ it.  
Didn't stop buying those stale, sourdough baseball bats either.  
Heh heh.

"Don't laugh! I almost got arrested!"

 **It was worth it.**

"...Yeah, it kinda was, wasn't it?"

Venom rumbled in agreement. Remembering the indignant noises the largely tamed water fowl made whenever a well aimed 'baguette' knocked them for a loop.

"Our landlord."

 **What?**

"Our landlord definitely noticed," Eddie clarified. "'Cause yesterday was rent day."

 **You're late with it sometimes.** Venom pointed out. Helpfully.

"Well, yeah, but she always _calls_ if I... forget to send it in."

 **'Forget' being what you tell her so she doesn't start looking for a new tenant.**

"You know what? I think I liked the walking in silence part of the trip more," Eddie lied. Voice only giving him away _completely_.

 **You** ** _live_** **for our banter; there's no denying it, Eddie.**

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that, man," the human said. Lips quirked in a way that belied his utter amusement.

 **I think I** ** _will_** **. Watch our head.**

"Oh, thanks."

Venom chuckled as his unobservant human came to a full and complete stop, stunned to find a thick, gnarled branch right in the path of their equally thick head.  
 **Any time.** The symbiote said, as he tamped down his private, potentially undue amusement at the way Eddie didn't take his eyes off the obstruction as he walked them _around_ it. Looking like he thought it might _move_ if he directed his gaze anywhere else.

The rest of the day, as Venom had privately predicted, brought with it warmer and warmer weather, and smaller and smaller puddles.  
Near midday they passed their last drinkable water and ended up doubling back when they realized there wasn't going to be any more ahead.

After that: no more water breaks to break up the monotony of the daily trudge. And, not that they could have gone after one if they'd seen one, absolutely zero squirrels. Which basically meant no food. Except for Eddie's weird human stomach, which was cool with him chewing on the occasional green or green and purple plant growing between trees.

The worst part of the day was definitely the part when the water started _leaving_ their system.  
Not because Venom minded the _frequent_ bathroom breaks —he'd grown accustomed to such quite some time ago— but because, once the liquid left their stomach, so did that pleasant feeling of **fullness**. Which _both_ of them missed more desperately than Venom would have thought possible.  
No matter it's illusory nature.

By the time Eddie made their controlled colapse for the evening, their gut felt emptier than ever. _Ever_. As if a singularity had set up shop in there. A black hole of epic proportions raging in their middle, making shutting down a chore in and of itself.  
Unpleasant. To say the least.

 **Night, Eddie.**

"Night, buddy."

Both of them knew there wasn't going to be a thing 'good' about it, so they made a silent agreement to leave that part off and be done with the whole affair.  
No false hope that way. Just like they harbored no false hope that tomorrow would be any better than the day they'd just endured. After all, what could beat rain and the end of their most temperate of weathers?

Food?

Food.

Yeah, not happening.

"Go to sleep, Venom."

 **I didn't say anything.**

"Yeah, well you were thinkin' pretty loud," Eddie the party pooper griped.

 **That's not a thing.**

"It is for us."

Venom sent Eddie the mental equivalent of a raspberry and did his final snuggle down for the night. Thinking the while, that he liked that there existes things that were 'for us'.  
He just wished that the whole 'gonna die of starvation alone in a _nightmare_ forest' wasn't one of them.

The symbiote drifted off to the infinitesimally comforting thought that at least, whatever was fated to happen, they'd be alone _together_ for it.  
That was world's better than the alternative.

 **Not the worst kind of break a couple of stranded hopeless cases could be handed. ;D**  
 **Hmm... Makes me wonder what** ** _would be_** **the worst. Oh, I think that gave me an idea! Haha!**


	4. The Climb

**So... ever seen free climbing before? Yeah. That. But worse.**

They woke early; thirsty and hungry, with a stiff shoulder and a constellation of kinks running across their back.  
Eddie sat up, ran a hand across their face, groaned, and got them to their feet.  
Then they started trudging.

Only a handful of hours into their new, ever warmer, waterless day, the two extremely lost souls found something neither of them had been expecting. Not even a little bit.

It turned out the forest _did_ have an end —of sorts—, and, without any warning, they were teetering on it.

 ** _That's_** **where we need to be. Down there.** Said Venom to the panicked human with the pinwheeling arms as they caught a glimpse of the other, never ending stretch of forest far, _far_ below.

"How _exactly_ are we supposed to get down there- down this giant **cliff**? Without dying? For _good_?" Asked Eddie as he regained their balance and backed further and further from the precipice they'd nearly walked right off of.

Forcing their legs to still, Venom made that hushing noise it turned out Eddie responded to rather well, and attempted to reason with his less reasonable half.  
 **Do you see another way around?**

"What? _No_ , all there **is** is cliff for... How'd we miss it?" The barely functional guy asked as his symbiote muscled past the human's ridiculous urge to sink to their knees.

 **All we need is a** ** _meal_** **and I can get us down. No problem.** The one keeping them standing said with just as much confidence as he felt. Not bothering mentioning that their near tumble probably had something to do with the dazed, meandering, half-lidded shuffle they'd been doing since they scraped themselves off the ground that morning.

"Well, it's not like food's just gonna drop straight outta the sky for us, is it?" The guy with the **pounding** heart asked with an emphatic skyward gesture. "No, we're either gonna starve here- _right_ here, or we're gonna find out what a long drop to a splattery end feels like when you know you can't fix it after!"

Yep. Venom had known it would happen eventually. Eddie was getting 'hysterical'. Happened in all the old movies. The weaker one in a duo eventually lost all hope and started blubbering uncontrollably, necessitating the one with the backbone having to yell at or often slap the other one.  
Looking at his host though, Venom was _pretty_ sure either of those corrective actions would be more than the poor, squishy human could take at the moment.

No, sadly, the old movies never covered what to do when the one beset by 'hysteria' was as frayed and understandably 'near the end of his rope' as Venom's starvation companion was in that moment.  
So he figured he'd wing it. _Gently_.

 **Eddie-**

The call of a large bird of prey screeching high above cut off both of their trains of thought quite handily.  
What restarted their hunger pinched brain was the snake that plummeted from somewhere up in the sky to a bouncing stop not ten feet from them. Right along the rocks at the cliff's edge.

To say they jumped on the stunned lizard would be insufficient.  
They **pounced**.  
And then they **devoured**. Eddie not even waiting for Venom's fangs before biting into the yet wriggling creature. Seeming to _enjoy_ the feeling of his own teeth sinking down through tough scales into the juicy, _life giving_ flesh beneath.

Atta boy.

 ** _This_** **is how we get down.** Venom said even as he wrapped their jaw in his tougher, _stronger_ mandible. **We eat, then** ** _I_** **climb.**

Eddie just nodded, preoccupied with the satisfying **crunch** of the innumerable rib bones as the snake steadily disappeared. Transforming quick as it hit their stomach into a fuel Venom knew exactly what to do with.  
The only thing about it giving him pause, giving them time to lick the juicy remnants from their clawed fingers, was how much this was going to hurt.  
Hurt _Eddie_. Not Venom.

 **Alright. Time to go over the edge.**

"What?!" Asked the human who hadn't realized they'd been perched right upon the brink of the sheer drop. Distracted as he had been with the snake snack, scales and all, as it went down smooth.

 **It is alright.** Venom insisted as he unstuck their claws from where Eddie had suddenly shoved them into the ground. In terror. **You can close your eyes this time.** So Venom held in a sigh as his human did just that.  
After all, he _had_ said it was alright.

As he turned their body around and climbed it over the barren ledge, fighting against Eddie's hapless survival instincts every inch of the way, Venom let the rest of his face slip into place. Pleased when he could see perfectly even as he felt the eyelids under his bunch tighter against the feeling of hanging off the edge of the world by nothing but your claws.  
Then, as he realized how few good handholds there were, and how many jagged edges were gonna want a piece of them, Venom slipped his entire hands out and started the long, _long_ haul down. Bringing some clawed feet out to help with the footholds after one measly little slip nearly gave his on-board worrywart a heart attack.

After what had to have been half a lifetime of quick though careful crawling, Venom chanced a glance behind and down to check their progress.  
Then had to grit his teeth to keep from cursing when he realized they were barely halfway to the ground. And that they weren't going to have a _thing_ left of that snake in their system when this was done.

The injury from the botched squirrel hunt wasn't making any facet of the slow plummet of a journey easier either. In fact, Eddie was gritting his teeth tight enough for the both of them. All the stranded reporter could do to stop from yelping anytime Venom needed to fully extend their wrenched shoulder. And Venom needed to do that... frequently.  
They were descending a _cliff_ after all. Without a rope. Or a safety net.

Another factor justifiably causing the symbiote concern, was whatever had been attempting to kill its meal by smashing it on a rocky precipice.  
It had an impressive screech and he hoped against hope that it didn't circle around and try to get the delicious snake back out of them. Because no part of that would be anywhere _near_ pleasant.

Thankfully, the great bird's shadow only slid across their completely exposed, indefensible spread-eagle twice; nary a peep from its deadly, flesh rending beak as it searched for its lost meal.

Venom almost felt sorry for the stupid bird. Except for the fact that... he **didn't**. But he _was_ grateful that it was seemingly intelligent enough not to mess with the four limbed mammal climbing around right under its hooked nose.  
Even if they _had_ eaten its legless lizard.

Less birdwatching; more climbing, Venom warned himself. The exact, unfortunate moment before their right claws missed a handhold and put the weight of nearly their entire body on their left arm. To which, the beleaguered thing threatened to dislocate itself a second time; the shoulder slipping minutely out and then back into joint as Venom scrambled successfully for that accursed crag he'd been aiming for.

What surprised the supernatural rock climber even more than having _missed_ a step at all, was the fact that the very near reinjury hadn't wrung a noise of pain from his host. Instead, Eddie'd just gritted his teeth harder and forced himself to **breathe**.

At least they were past the halfway point, Venom told himself even as he knew he couldn't slow their pace nor afford to favor the shoulder. Not if he wanted to keep them alive.  
Which he _did_. Rather desperately.

Another age later, as he felt the energy the miracle of a meal had bestowed upon them waning, Venom chanced another glance earthward. Then sighed at the sight of a countless number of trees welcoming them from barely below.

They'd made the canopy. From there, it was practically home free.

When they finally, _finally_ touched bottom and stumbled away from that absolute trial of a natural wall, Venom remained silent as he pulled his face and the rock climbing claws back under their skin and his human sank flat to the ground in exhaustion.

He felt the way Eddie's lungs where burning and knew every one of his host's undernourished muscles were either threatening to cramp and never _un_ cramp, on **fire** , or had been absolutely numbed by the experience. By the sheer _exertion_ it had taken to climb down a cliff face as stark and featureless and impossibly **tall** as the one Eddie hadn't opened his eyes on.

Even now, Eddie's eyes were only half open as he lay there, panting, sweating, and shaking in that way that a limb might if you asked more of it than it was prepared to do. Just as Venom had of their body.  
Of Eddie.

But, if it got them that much closer to 'civilization', and a proper meal, then there hadn't been any other choice.

That's what Venom told himself as his human curled in on their battered and abused body and whimpered quietly. Good arm laying protective and leaden over the pounding, pulsing, _pain_ of their damaged and nearly redamaged arm. Which was _still_ working well enough that repairing it further, without a big meal in sight... could very well cost them their lives. But which was now swollen and angry enough that using it —for _anything_ — was a terrible idea.

Still, it had been the only route available to them, and Venom was _sure_ \- something about this direction was telling him they'd be safe if they just kept moving.

Something he couldn't ask of his human then. Not while Eddie hadn't complained the whole way down; either scared silent or concentrating all of his energy on ignoring the protests of his screaming muscles so as not to interrupt Venom's concentration.  
More likely _both_.

No, he deserved a rest after that.

And so, laying in the cool grass at the bottom of that cliff face, the shade of nearby trees keeping the sun off them, Venom soon found himself wishing he'd never learned what guilt was. Because, when he felt their chest spasm, and heard that first wracked, desperate sob, guilt was all the symbiote _could_ feel.

He didn't like the feeling. Not one bit.

The fact that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it he liked even less.

And there really was _nothing_ he could do. Not unless he **ate** one of the organs still overcrowding his host's-  
No. He wasn't going to think about that. It wouldn't help anyway. Losing an organ wouldn't help them move any faster and, even though he didn't have the resources with which to heal... _anything_ , Eddie was a resilient human. He'd scrape himself off the grass covered forest floor and keep them moving forward. Venom knew he would. _Knew_ it. Wouldn't doubt it for a second.

But when he felt the first tears slide out of his friend's eyes... he wished that Eddie didn't **have** to.

If only they had more _food_.

Then he wouldn't have to huddle there, dormant and useless, as his- his _Eddie_ broke down. In a way Venom had never seen him nor any other human do.  
Or, if he had seen it, on tv or in a theater, he'd never **felt** it before. Never felt the kind of hopelessness a week of fruitless desperation mixed with deprivation and a heaping spoonful of terror for their lives could stir up.  
Add to that a shoulder they couldn't afford to use anymore and...

Was this- _all_ of this- the entire predicament, Venom's fault? The symbiote shuddered when the thought hit him.  
Had Eddie been right when he'd said none of this would've happened if he'd just been a good symbiote and let his reporter sit across the aisle from a known- _infamous_ gunrunner? All prim and professional, taking down notes as she told him things that she'd never allowed an **ear** outside her inner circle hear.  
And live to tell the tale.

As her bodyguards continually thumbed their weapon's safety on and off in a way that was absolutely meant to be intimidating but just plain ticked Venom off.  
 _No one_ was allowed to threaten **his** Eddie.

So, really, everyone in that plane had deserved to die a fiery death. Full stop. But Eddie didn't deserve to suffer out here like this. Curled up on the grass, crying his eyes out and rightfully shaken to the deepest parts of himself by all that had happened to them since they'd boarded that flying metal death trap.

Yeah. This was Venom's fault alright. But acknowledging it didn't mean he was any closer to being able to **do** anything about it.

So, he forced the self recrimination to a standstill and instead focused on the here and now.  
Eddie needed him. Even if he was absolutely useless at the moment.  
He had to at least _try_ to do something.

Maybe he could be... comforting? He could try comforting.

With that in mind, Venom thrummed from his place in his human's aching chest, just enough to remind him that he was there, and focused on reaching through that absolute quagmire of grief and pain with something far more befitting his Eddie's mind.

Feeling that spoken words would somehow be... insufficient, the symbiote communicated as loudly as he could thoughts of the good times they'd had together, back in their San Francisco stomping grounds, and made promises of more to come. Promises of pain subsiding and joy returning to their sorry existence.

 _You and me = safe_

 _Eddie + Venom = home_

He couldn't stress it enough. Especially not when he felt their chest spasm and received a mental response; crude and disjointed, but far more than Eddie'd once been capable of.

'Trapped. Like rats. Die. Like jerky.'

Not sure how jerked meats related to their situation, but pretty sure he got the idea, Venom gentled at the shuddering mind and insisted once more:

 _You and me = team_

 _Eddie + Venom = hope_

 _Venom + Eddie =_

 **Love**

...The single spoken word quieted all sound. Quieted the maelstrom of futility and anguish that had been flailing in their head. It even seemed to ease some of the agony from their poor, overused and abused body.  
And when Eddie next opened their mouth, it wasn't a sob that broke the silence. It was a promise.

"I love you too."

To that, all Venom could do was glow. Or, that's what it felt like anyway. Like their was an industrial strength incandescent lightbulb inside him and Eddie'd just flicked the on switch.  
Felt unnatural. But far more so, it felt **good**.  
So he'd start worrying about it when it started disintegrating him from the inside out. Until then, he was just gonna enjoy it.

Because love?

Venom could get used to that.

He hoped though, that he never got the opportunity to grow used to the way Eddie ended up crying himself to sleep. An utter emotional and physical wreck, in need of far _more_ than he or this forest were able to provide.  
This forest that had tried to break them in every way it knew how.

Well, joke's on you, Forest, Venom thought as their breathing flattened to that of those in the throes of exhausted sleep, because, though they may have been no more than a hair's breadth from death by exposure, the two of them were somehow, _impossibly_ , closer than ever.

And if they did end up dying out there, far from home and everything they knew, at least they'd be doing it with each other.  
And that was worlds better than the alternative.

 **Can it** ** _get_** **worse from here? Maybe we shouldn't ask that question.**


	5. The Sunset

**After that climb, I wish I could promise things were looking up for the boys, but this forest... let's just say that mercy isn't in its nature.**  
 **'Cause it's a forest.**

The time came that Eddie woke on his own and without his symbiote's insistence, struggled to their feet, and moved them away from the wall the human refused to so much as look at.

After that climb, virtually all of it in the harsh rays of the sun, they were more dehydrated than ever. And with no hint of a water source nearby, Venom figured they were just about one day out from a total system shutdown. Give or take a few hours.

If they did stumble upon some at least reasonably potable water in that time, then they might have the opportunity to starve to death instead. Because as vast as the forest had appeared from the face of that cliff, Venom was pretty sure it didn't _have_ an end.

But they had to try. Giving up was in no way an option. Because you never knew when you might stumble across some stupid bird's low hanging nest full of **eggs**. Or maybe some sort of exceedingly tame, trusting, four legged creature with tiny little horns that would happily let them eat it.  
Or maybe Santa Clause would swoop down with Rudolph leading the way and the four of them would share roasted chestnuts over their open fire.  
A very, very small open fire, that is.

All those morbid thoughts Venom was sure to think quietly, for Eddie no doubt already had _plenty_ of his own and didn't need extra distracting him from his all important task of keeping them ambling forward.

That evening, Eddie walked right on through to the crepuscule, ignoring the setting of the sun and refusing to rest until neither of them could see where they were going well enough to avoid walking headlong into a tree trunk.  
Well, until their _human_ half couldn't, anyway. Venom could still see... some, but he also knew that they should have stopped over a mile back. Back when the first bout of vertigo had left Eddie reeling and catching their breath against the bark of a conveniently placed, mature tree.

When Eddie finally agreed to sit them down for the _night_ , it was once again more like a controlled collapse. Barely controlled.

It was five minutes into just _sitting_ there, **not** falling asleep, that Venom understood why it was Eddie hadn't wanted to bed down at all: The human didn't think he could sleep through the throbbing ache of their shoulder.

All the walking hadn't done it any favors, practically frozen in its socket by all the swelling as it was, but now that they had nothing to do but contemplate the inside of their eyelids, the symbiote could no longer blame his human for wanting to stave off inactivity as long as possible.  
For now there weren't any distractions. Just them and their body and the nothingness of the desolate wilderness that had been their constant companion for so, so long now.

Somehow, _eventually_ , they still managed to turn off.  
Was probably the exhaustion.

The next morning consisted of more leaning against things, sitting, and sweating out the last of their water and mineral reserves than it did actual walking. But the fact that they'd barely slept through the dark hours, and shoved off as soon as Eddie could see again, meant that they still made good distance by the time the sun hit the top of the sky.

By the end of midday they'd reached the end of their ability to sweat. And by the time the sun was getting ready to say its customary goodbye, they'd reached the end of their journey.  
Not though, because they'd found a cottage or a hidden township, but because their body'd handed in its resignation. With no more than the traditional fifteen minutes notice.

So when a flat, mesa like opening in the forest —a calm, beige island in an endless sea of trees— revealed itself to them, they'd trundled on shaky legs up the slight incline to the precise middle of the largest clearing they'd ever seen. Even on tv.  
There, panting like a dog who'd just tried to catch the mail truck, they decided _together_ that if this was going to be their last day on earth, the least they could do was enjoy the sunset together. So, with an uninterrupted view of the sky above, they sank to the earth, fully aware that they lacked the strength to get back up after.  
Fully aware that they had essentially chosen their final resting place.

As they lay there, body's harried warnings of Death's imminent approach growing worryingly quieter as the seconds ticked by, they watched the clouds paint themselves in the hues of another day's passing. Reds, pinks, purples, and just a hint of blue turning the world's ceiling into a work of art that would've made even Michelangelo green with envy.

The harshness of their breathing didn't ease even as their body began to relax in a way it hadn't managed in far too long.  
The ache in those overworked, oxygen run organs reminding Venom that he'd nibbled down their capacity days ago. And that Eddie's nigh on asthmatic inability to catch their breath, even laying down as they were, was all _his_ fault.

And that made him feel guilty all over again.

 **I'm sorry, Eddie.** Venom rumbled. Knowing he needed to say it. No matter the 'too little, too late' nature of his timing.

Eddie shook their head. As if to say everything was alright.

Coming to the slow realization that Eddie no longer possessed the strength to speak, Venom felt himself give the symbiote equivalent of a harsh swallow.  
 **It really isn't.**

A few seconds passed and Venom felt his center clench as he came to the joint conclusion that Eddie both wasn't going to respond, and that his partner in life was one step closer to also being his partner in death. Unconscious and unresponsive and only short moments ahead of his symbiote on that front.

'Cause without a host, without _his_ host, his Eddie, Venom wouldn't make it the night. But, whoever said he'd _want_ to. There wasn't another human alive he'd rather live inside. Live _with_. Not in the whole, wide, wild world.  
After all, Eddie _was_ his world.

No, when the visitor from the stars felt his uncoordinated grip on consciousness slip just as his human's had, his human who'd done far more in hopes of getting them home than even Venom had thought him capable of, he counted it as a blessing.  
If this was death coming for him, then he'd greet the specter as an old friend and ask if he and Eddie could bunk in the afterlife. Seeing as the two of them were kind of a complete set and all.

And with that thought, Venom let the sound of their slowing heart comfort him as it led him back to his rightful place by its side. Thrumming in time with the muscle as he followed his host to a deep and silent sleep.  
One he knew they weren't likely to wake from.

 **Don't worry, I wouldn't leave ya hangin'! Next chapter will be up within a couple days! So please bear with the cliffie just until then!**  
 **The evil, evil cliffie. Heh heh.**


	6. The Noise

**Venom and Eddie would like to thank every single poor soul who read, suffered along with them through, or commented on that last chapter.**  
 **They'd also like you to know that they're only** ** _mostly_** **dead.**  
 **So... yeah.**

Venom was vaguely aware of a noise, coming closer and closer.  
Reminded him of the fan that sat on their desk back home. Eddie was so fond of that stupid little fan. Said it saved them on the electric bill.  
Only _this_ fan was threatening to both **deafen** and blow them completely away. So Venom just wanted it to go away and never come back.

But the horrible noise just got closer. And then there were _voices_ , and **hands** , and they were being strapped down and- and... and suddenly, there was _water_ rushing through their system once more. And the water carried with it vital nutrients they'd had to go without for _far_ too long.

And then the drugs kicked in.

That was when Venom decided Eddie needed to wake up and feel this for himself.  
It also just so happened to be when his human came to the same conclusion. Giving an involuntary groan as he opened their eyes, which showed them, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, something other than those nightmarish _trees_.

This time it was a ceiling. Man made and metal and one of the prettiest sights they'd ever seen.

This time, when Eddie started crying, Venom was right there with him. Because he'd seen this in the movies and he knew, just as Eddie knew, that they were going to be alright. That they were in a helicopter full of medical staff and mountaineering experts and they were headed _out_ of hell and back to 'civilization'.  
And, hopefully, back to a decent meal.

They fell back asleep about the time the drugs took the last of the fiery, endless pain from their shoulder.

Weirdly enough, turned out to be a _good_ thing Venom hadn't managed to fully heal all their... assorted injuries. _And_ that they hadn't managed to find food out in the wilderness. Aside from those wretched squirrels, which Venom was planning on crossing off the 'viable food source' menu first chance he got.

Turned out it was a **good** thing too that they looked as beat down, starved, and banged up as they did. Because if they hadn't, the rescue crew would probably have had some 'pointed' questions for them. Or more specifically, for Eddie. Seeing as he was the one with the human face and all.

As it was, when they woke again, before the medical evacuation reached base camp, they were treated like the survivors of a tragic accident that they were. Complete with a fuzzy blanket to help combat the 'shock' they must be going through, and a top off of nutrient and drug laden liquids through that plastic tube shoved into the big vein in the crook of their elbow. Which had already helped ease some of the dehydration from their system.  
Thoughtful of the brightly dressed humans.

Venom figured it was a good thing also that they were relatively filthy and that Eddie always appeared as pathetic when starved as he did when sad, because there were **cameras** when the rescue team landed their helicopter right outside the _search party's_ base of operations.

Since when had people cared about... Oh. Right. Eddie Brock interviewing the most notorious gunrunner this side of _the world_ had already been a high profile, widely discussed topic before they'd ever taken off in that flying, screaming metal death trap in the first place.  
Made some sense that people with news cameras and search parties with helicopters would have been looking for them. Along with the plane and the crew and the half a gunrunner and her bodyguards.

The question they heard above all the hubbub of flashbulbs and generator powered shelters?  
"How were you so far from the crash site?"

 **Parachute.** Venom supplied when their brain didn't allow a single, coherent response.

"P-para-" Eddie cleared his throat and pushed their back a little straighter. "Parachute."

And that was all the glorified parasites were getting until Mr. Brock got some _food_ in him. And had a chance to get cleaned up. And had a good night's sleep on something _other_ than the stupid ground for a change.  
Or at least that's what the head medic said as her team ushered them to an overly clean tent with volunteer security stationed at every corner. _Two_ at the entrance.

The longer the subsequent checkup dragged, the thinner Venom felt his patience stretching.  
 **Are you sure we couldn't just slip out and swallow one of those annoying, badged, 'press' monkeys?**

"Uh, Friday?" Eddie said in clueless answer to a medic's attempt at assessing his mental faculties.  
Judging by the _small_ frown it got them, he wasn't too far off either.

Ugh. It was always so _annoying_ when Eddie had to pretend he wasn't hearing his voice in his head. But, at least in this instance, Venom understood the importance of fitting in with everyone else's narrow definition of 'sane'. Even if it did sorta make him feel... neglected.  
Didn't help that he was still **starving**.

'No worry. Food soon.'

 **?** Venom hadn't been expecting a nonverbal message. Especially not while Eddie was in the middle of a _thorough_ medical evaluation.  
 **In camp?** He asked with a hint of barely restrained anticipation.

'Yep. Pedophile.'

 **One of the journalists?**

"Uh, yeah," Eddie said, in answer to him as well as some inane question about their obviously once dislocated limb. Sounded like the medics were still trying to figure out how they'd managed to total a perfectly good shoulder, but didn't want to outright ask someone who was _more_ than obviously still in the deepest throws of 'shock'.  
Eddie must've looked pretty out of it. As well as utterly pathetic.  
As per the usual.

Endearing really.

When the exacting head medic was _finally_ convinced they weren't on the brink of death, she allowed them a bowl of hot gruel and put them to bed without dessert. Which would honestly have not stopped Venom if it weren't for Eddie whispering him a promise that they'd sneak a confirmed criminal while no one was watching. In the middle of the night. After everyone had gone to sleep.  
Hopefully.

The volunteer security might complicate matters, but they'd make it happen.  
"Promise," Eddie said through a yawn as he snuggled deeper under the fluffy cover on their cot. A wonderful upgrade from the exposed and comfortless nights they'd suffered the last... _several_ days.

 **Goodnight, Eddie.** Venom said. Feeling secure in the thought that it would indeed be a good night.

"G'night, Venom. Love you." The words, even spoken as they were with the sloppy diction indicative of one being more than half asleep, hit the symbiote by surprise. Right in his center. Where Eddie sometimes liked to imagine his black heart thrummed.  
It made him glow that same glow it had the day before. After their brutal climb. Though, maybe even brighter now that there wasn't the threat of imminent death hanging over their head.

 **Love you too.** The last thing Venom rumbled before his human set off on the first restful sleep he'd had since before their unfortunate, though unavoidable, crash.

Feeling Eddie's gentle, _peaceful_ breaths, thoughts of starving and wasting away on nothing but miner's lettuce and dew drops nowhere to be felt, Venom knew he wasn't going to be waking his human for that midnight snack.  
After all, he could spend one more measly night a starving, slavering mess. If it meant Eddie'd look a little less pathetic in the morning.

But after that, first thing? They were eating an entire human. Press badge and all.

 **Venom and Eddie would like everyone to know that they are now mostly** ** _not_** **dead.**  
 **So... yeah. Big improvement. ;D**


	7. The Snack

**Wakey, wakey, boys! ;D**

Venom knew the _moment_ Eddie's consciousness began to stir that the human had indeed had a good night. What with the way that he just laid there on their good side, utterly relaxed in the warm comfort of their fuzzy blanket, thoughts slow to start in the cottony softness of their sleep fogged brain. Synapses firing just a hair faster when he realized that their bed wasn't _their bed_ , and the loose fitting bed time clothes _definitely_ weren't theirs and there was something **off** about that shou-

Eddie's racing thoughts cut off in a groan when the ridiculous rescuee realized rolling over would be a terrible idea. On account of their shoulder being one big, stiff ball and socket joint of stubborn inflammation and fiery vengeance.  
Best to stay still until it forgot they were there.

 **Good morning for being us, huh?**

"We got found, didn't we?" Eddie asked, voice little more than a dry rasp of wonder and disbelief.

 **Yes. Right after we passed out from deprivation. And hunger.**

"Right. Then there was the helicopter, the IV," the human said, pointing to a bandage on their good arm, "the checkup, and-"

 **And the drugs. Don't forget those.** Venom insisted, wishing that they had some of that pain cancelling juice running through their veins right that second.  
Eddie didn't deserve to suffer a minute longer after that week of _hellfire_ and- after they'd escaped that forest of nightmares.

"Yeah, those were pretty great too. But I know something that would hit the spot even better right about now."

 **What?**

"That midnight snack I promised ya."

 **Yes, about that-**

"Wait," Eddie said, Venom allowing the rude cut-in because they _were_ still only half awake. "You're not starving anymore. I mean, you're _hungry_ , but it feels like you... ate?"

 **Yes.**

" _Without_ me?

 **That's what I was about to** ** _tell_** **you.**

"You hitched a ride on some poor sap and forced them-"

 **Don't be ridiculous. Anne was happy to oblige.**

"Anne's here?! What's she doing- how did she get- who in- and then-"

 **One of the medics told you before I let them put you to bed, 'They're flying your lawyer in from the other camp.'**

"Nobody told me that; I would've remembered. Because I don't _have_ a lawyer." Eddie reasoned as evenly as he could. Still managing to sound like a warped record being played through a poorly tuned phonograph.

 **They told you twice. You were just busy mumbling to 'yourself' about how you were going to eat a pedophile while no one was watching.** Venom informed.

"Damn. They must think I'm loony." Eddie said as he ran a hand roughed by a week in the wilderness across their face.

 **They** ** _think_** **that you just got rescued. That you spent the last week talking to yourself. That you faced death and starvation alone. That you're 'coping'.** ** _I_** **know better, and I say you're going to be fine. So does Anne.**

"I sure as shit _hope_ so." The human said. Just a hair off hysterical.

 **Plus, Anne says anything they heard last night can't be submitted into a court of law. Something about survivor's trauma? You'll have to ask her.** Venom said in a 'not my thing' tone.

"I'm going to court?!" The human asked. _Half_ a hair off hysterical. So Venom made that soft hushing sound before the guy could start hyperventilating.

 **The terrorist's lawyer is suing you for wrongful death. If not outright murder. In the first degree. Multiple homicide. Anne thinks she can get that thrown out though, considering there aren't any** ** _witnesses_** **. And an entire base camp full of flashing cameras saw you brought in more than half dead last night.** He informed. Pleased that their heart rate didn't spike back up halfway through.

"Wait, is _this_ a news story?" Eddie asked, waving a hand around in a vague, indicative gesture.

 **Eddie Brock, Investigative Journalist, just might be a household name after this.** Venom said. Wondering whether it came out a little smug.

"Oh my God, you mean to tell me that every house in America, there's someone watching —on infinite replay— my sorry, half dead ass say-"

 **'P-para, parachute.' I hear they're making T-shirts.** Venom confirmed. A little more entertained than he may have had right to be.

"My life is over."

"Everyone back home misses you."

At the new, not in his head voice, Eddie jerked violently enough that he saw spots. _Big_ ones. Took up most of his vision for a few seconds. More like all of it, actually.  
Naw, he just plain passed out, Venom realized as he coaxed his human to **breathe** and ignore that solar flare in their shoulder.  
And wake back up.

"Eddie?" Asked the rightfully concerned voice of their clandestine visitor.

"H-how long were you sitting there?"

 **The whole time.**

"How-how're you feeling? I heard one of the medics say they want you transferred to a hospital," the concerned ex said.

"What?" Eddie asked. Venom feeling the confusion so strong it was practically wafting off his now recumbent human.

 **She just doesn't want to admit that she likes watching you sleep. And talk to yourself.** He explained. Helpfully.

"I'm not; I'm talking to _you_ ," Eddie defended, shooting Anne an indignant glance while he was at it.

"You're not looking _that_ bad, and Venom's doing alright. I could probably get them to release you into Dan's care instead?" Anne, the Saint, suggested.

"Why do you sound like you _know_ he's doing alright?" Eddie asked. Venom pretty sure that he'd missed the part about the personal physician altogether.

"Because, I took him out for dinner," the lawyer explained with a tiny smirk. "We didn't want to wake you."

 **Anne also recognized the mark. Said you worked that case together.**

"Wait, wait, wait. _You_ ate a pedophile?"

To Eddie's raised brow, Anne gave a shrug. "I did it for the children."

 **She did it for** ** _us_** **.** Venom corrected. **Knew I couldn't heal that shoulder without a good** ** _meal_** **in me.**

"Uh-huh, then why is it still busted?" His human asked. Doing a poor job trying to hide his disappointment at missing their first hunt back out of that barren excuse of a forest.

"The shoulder? Well, while we were out together, Venom and I had a little talk," began Anne, "and we agreed that, just until we get you out of here and back home, we should leave it that way."

"But, I can't even sit up on my own," Eddie whined. Causing Anne to mirror Venom's private, fond smirk.

"An overnight healing would raise all kind of red flags with the medics. Not to mention the _dozens_ of reporters outside. If you looked one hundred percent when you walked out there, they'd have a field day." Anne said with a less than fond gesture at the tent's far wall.

"Venom?" Eddie asked. Wanting to hear the story from both sides before passing judgement.  
The symbiote tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.

 **...She made me promise before she'd let us eat.**

"Anne! That sounds suspiciously close to coercion. He was _starving_." Venom felt warmed by the fact that Eddie had to restrain himself from raising his voice. Rightfully pissed on his symbiote's behalf.  
Which reminded Venom that he was still kinda pissed himself.

"I know. I felt it. And I'm sorry, Venom," said the person who probably lied to a sizable audience while under oath on the daily. For a _living_. "I'm sorry you had to go through... what you _both_ went through. And I'm glad- I'm unspeakably _more_ than glad, that you two made it out okay."

The way her voice caught convinced Venom that she was being as genuine as a known lawyer could be, which reset his opinion of her back up to 'second favorite human'. But then, the way she leaned forward and the soft, _kind_ hand she laid on Eddie's chest, **precisely** above his resting place, made Venom twitch.  
Because Anne _meant_ it. He could feel her sincerity through the pajama top. And the sternum.

Venom rumbled at the good vibrations her caring proximity imparted. Then, when it became obvious she was expecting some sort of response, Venom pushed just a couple square inches of himself up and through his human's chest. Making sure to keep hidden under Anne's palm. Never sure whether they were truly alone in a place as unfamiliar as that funky medical tent.

From there, making physical contact with his two time joyride, he was able to establish a tentative mental connection. One she just might be able to receive a message across.  
 **Thanks.**

"No prob. We're buds, right?" The lawyer with the heart of gold asked with an overwhelmed smile. Being apparently _pleased_ to hear his voice.

 **The way you tore that tasty treat in half last night? Yes. Absolutely.**

"Wait, she did _what_?" Squawked the guy whose lawyer and symbiote were having a moment on either side of his chest. The _out_ side and the _in_ side. Respectively.

 **Anne said, 'He deserved it.'** Venom tattled. Causing Eddie to double take at his symbiote's meal buddy.

"We were gonna eat him anyway," the lawyer defended. Rather poorly.

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along. Still."

 **That means he's jealous.**

"Yeah, I can tell. We lived together too, while back," Anne explained with a chuckle. Before sending down one more friendly feeling and removing her hand from her ex's chest.  
A move Venom mirrored from the inside, keeping his presence completely hidden. Just in case.

"Am not," Eddie pouted. Necessitating the other two laugh at him. Which they did. With gusto.  
"You know what? I just realized that _I'm_ hungry. Starving, in fact. And that all they gave me to eat last night was some high protein, instant mix, _slop_ they poured out of a bag and microwaved to taste."

Even Anne cringed at that horrifying description.

"Right? That's what I told them."

 **No, Eddie, you told them that a live snake tasted better than 'whatever the hell this is'. Then they slipped a sedative in it while you were busy staring off into space. Mumbling to yourself.**

"Uh, no, I was talking to _you_ ," Eddie corrected.

 **Nope.**

"Actually, you were saying something about how _anything_ was better than squirrel with the fur still attached. One of the medics told me," Anne recorrected.

 **Yeah, that's why I let you eat laced goo.**

"Yeah? Well-"

"I'll see if I can track down that head medic and ask her to okay you some _real_ food," the reasonable human said as she stood from her tiny chair and made for the only way in or out of there.

"Hey, Anne?" The lawyer stopped just inside the exit and turned to look at them. "Thanks. For everything."

"No prob. After all, what are friends for?" And with a cocky smile, the one who was about to get them a second meal and, eventually, some _true_ freedom strutted out the door flap and out of sight.

"...I think she likes you." Eddie said with a teasing grin.

 ** _I_** **think she likes ripping people in half.** Venom said as he wiped _away_ the teasing grin.

"Well, like she said, that guy deserved it." Said the journalist who'd once investigated the now dead and digested deviant.

 **You recognize any other scumbags around here who 'deserve it'?** Venom asked. Realizing all this talk of food was making him _hungry_ again.

"Uh, I'll keep my eyes out, but it might be less suspicious if we wait till we get back to an actual city before going gangbusters."

 **Hm.** Venom hummed in begrudging agreement. **Home does sound nice right about now.**

"Yeah. Good thing,"

'Eddie + Venom = home'

The symbiote received the mental message with a start.  
Eddie was getting good at that. And using _his_ line.

Hm. If that's what plagiarism felt like, Venom could get used to being stolen from. So long as Eddie was the one doing the stealing.

 **Aw, Anne confirmed what Eddie'd been wondering about while they were lost. That people back home** ** _did_** **notice they were gone.**  
 **And it turns out their friends were looking for them! So sweet! XD**


	8. The Visit

**Wait a second.** ** _How_** **did Anne say they were getting home?**

Thanks to a little Anne-genuity, the three of them were out of that tent and on a nonstop flight for San Francisco before the day was through.

Once seated, even though they assured their liberator, and each other, that they _definitely_ weren't nervous, they weren't terribly surprised to find out that their subconscious sure as hell was. Stupid thing couldn't let go of what happened the last time they were on a plane, so, soon as the thing started moving, their hands locked the armrests in a telltale death grip.  
Then, to their seatmate's obvious concern, halfway through takeoff, they started sweating bullets.

The entire experience was bad enough that they almost said yes when a flight attendant made a discrete offer of 'a little something to help you relax, Sir?'

Thankfully, they had Anne there to 'hold their hand' and turn the... questionable offer down for them.  
Without her, neither of them were sure they would have made it the entire flight. At least, not in their assigned seat.

Once landfall was achieved, the three of them made their way to the exit, Anne guiding the frazzled wreck of a pair and making sure they didn't trip over themselves down the waiting staircase.

To both Eddie and Venom's surprise, a certain, personal physician stood waiting for them on the tarmac. Security keeping the also unexpected hoard of paparazzi from surging forward and inadvertently crushing them.

Dan, the angel in doctor's clothing, clapped the weary travelers up in a big hug and bundled the three of them into the back of his SUV. Then, with the help of a couple muscled-up police cars, got them the hell _out_ of that veritable media circus and straight to the hospital. Making it clear that once inside, he had every intention of doing his own, _thorough_ checkup. Only, this one was going to include X-Rays. _Several_. And any other imaging they could manage.

"For the soft tissue damage I think an ultrasound could work," said the doc as he took the casual turn into the hospital parking structure. To which, Venom had to reign in his instinct to throw their body out the moving car.  
Eddie still noticed the way their hand twitched for the door handle.

"Uh, yeah, Venom's not a fan of those two words put together." Said his attentive host. While making eye contact in the rear view with the guy who had plans to experiment on the two. The two who'd only just barely _survived_ nature's experiment on them.

"We need to have as much medical evidence of that injury on file as we possibly can," said Anne as she turned to face them better from her seat on the other side of the cushy bench. "Just in case this wrongful death 'case' those troglodytes are lodging against you two somehow makes it into an actual court."

To that, Dan gave an emphatic nod before starting his piece again. "And an ultrasound utilizes a _very_ different process to create images and-"

"Yeah," Eddie cut in, "it's safe enough to use on little tiny babies in the womb. But-"

"And you can turn it off _any_ second, right Dan?" Asked Anne. Ever the reasonable one.

"First sign of discomfort? It's **off**. We don't like causing our patients pain, no matter what it might feel like sometimes." Assured the doc.

Taking a moment to consider, Venom rumbled as a wave of bolstering encouragement came through from where Anne'd set her hand on their arm. When they looked over, she gave them a small smile.  
It was kind of nice.

"Sound alright?" Asked the driver as he pulled into his private spot in the hospital's parking structure.

 **He's not going to experiment on us, is he?**

"Frankenstein over here? Naw, he's cool. Now that he knows _we_ are," Eddie assured. Doing his best to believe it himself.

"Don't worry, Venom, I'll stay and help out. Since I might end up representing you, it could turn out useful for us that I be able to swear to having seen the entire process. I'll be on hospital security and signed in on the visitor's log." Anne said. Pumping more and more confidence into them the longer she spoke.

"Right," said the doc as he cut the engine, put away his keys, and turned from the wheel to look the recently rescued, complete mess on his back seat in the eyes. "Um, I just wanted you... _two_ ," the word coming out like Dan still couldn't believe he'd said it, "to know that I —because of the hospital security— feel that, for the purposes of being able to submit any footage or recordings to a court of law, we should refer to, uh, _you_ as 'Eddie'. Exclusively. For the entire visit."

The remorseful expression was the only thing keeping 'Dan' off Venom's shit list.  
The hand the doctor snaked behind the captain's chair to place on their knee kept him from slipping completely off the symbiote's considerably shorter list. Of favorite humans.  
On account of the amorphous feelings of regret and... concern that seeped out of him as his hand warmed their patella.

"Okay, Dan. He's on board. For the whole thing." Eddie said.

The smile Dan sent them as he took his hand back didn't _look_ maniacal, so Venom didn't take it back and try to convince Eddie that tearing out of there and boosting a motorcycle was a better idea.  
Thought barely even brushed up against his host's mind.

"Before we go in, I , uh, wanted you, _Venom_ ," the doc started, in a voice devoid of most its regular confidence, "to know that, even though it's going to sound like we're ignoring you..."

"We'll be thinking of you every step of the way." Anne finished.

At that, even Eddie twitched in surprise.

"If anything needs to stop, just let us know."

Wow, the symbiote thought with a blink, felt like the guy in the front seat was actually talking to _him_. In a truly pathetic, clueless way. Eyes searching their mangled body as if he might somehow catch a glimpse of its hidden occupant. But it was enough to quiet any remaining misgivings Venom might've been secretly harboring.  
It warmed him to know Eddie felt the same.

"We will," said the investigative journalist.  
Then everyone got out of Dan's nice SUV.

In the light of the hospital's private entrance, where they had a chance to get a good look at him, the Dan doc looked like he'd had even less sleep than his usual schedule of long shifts allowed. Probably for several days. If the unseemly bags under his eyes could be trusted.

Was that because he'd been helping with the search?

Venom made sure to study Anne's face the next time they looked at her. Yep. Matching, if not **deeper** , bags.  
The symbiote didn't know how he'd missed it.

Then again, he thought as he caught a glimpse of their own hollowed face in a shiny, sterilized, reflective surface, Eddie looked far worse. Like the human symbiote pair hadn't so much as closed their eyes the whole time they'd been stranded. Nor had a single bite to eat.  
Venom figured the days of constant pain probably played a factor in that gaunt, haunted look he could tell even a polite smile wasn't erasing. And he wished, down to his core, that they **hadn't**.

"You're on a painkiller, right?" The doc asked as he held a door open for the group.

"Huh?"

"And something to manage the swelling." Anne chipped in. Understanding that the shambling, mumbling, spaced out proof that nature _had_ no mercy could use the help.

"Good. We'll update those and get you fitted for a better sling before we're done for the day."

"I'm gonna need those?" Asked the guy who barely knew what day it was.

"Yeah. For at least three weeks. For the sling. Maybe just a week for the rest." Informed the ignorant doctor.

 **More like an hour. Soon as we bust this popsicle stand-**

"Some prosecutors are real bastards about this kind of thing. Could want further proof in the form of a 'week after' visit," Anne explained.

"And doctor's scripts and proof of pharmacy visits- It can be a real headache, but if we just manage this right from the beginning, we won't have anything to worry about," Dan said. Walking them around yet another stark white corner.

As they hit the straightaway, Venom couldn't help sticking there tongue out at the back of their personal physician's well groomed head.  
Some of the rankle soothing from his cells when he realized Eddie hadn't even tried to stop him.  
The resulting snort from Anne and the confused doctorly glance back it got her smoothed the rest of it. After all, if Eddie was okay playing along with this stupid 'being human' charade, Venom could hold back healing the **his fault** injury a little longer.

"It was nobody's fault, Ven," Eddie whispered. Lower than even Anne, walking along at their side could hear.

 **Tell that to the shoulder.** Venom said with a twinge of self reprimand. Then the symbiote couldn't help but rumble along as his host held in a chuckle. An exhausted chuckle.  
He hated seeing Eddie that tired.

By the looks of things, so did the two doing all the work around there. Showing them through the door to their destination, seating them in a handy swivel chair, and readying the machines. All with an efficient clip to it and a concerned edge to their faces.

The pair of professionals made sure they, as well as their patients, could be seen by surveillance cameras the entire time as they took the X-rays then had them printed.  
Then, in the privacy of Dan's doctor office, the two who knew _anything_ about human anatomy reviewed the photos. Pointing in harried half calm at a little line on one picture that _didn't_ feature the recently rescued's shoulder.

"What is that?" Anne asked as Dan began scrutinizing the corresponding spot on their forearm.

"Uh, that's from when we broke our arm. Hunting a squirrel." At the incredulous looks, Eddie wetted their lips and went on. "We- _I_ fell out of the tree and... splat. Oh, and that's when the shoulder happened. Also." The self conscious guy bit their lip when no one moved to speak.  
"'Was a _tall_ tree."

"Uh, right, well," stuttered the doc as he walked across the room, holding the X-ray as if it might bite. "This, I think we can forget about. Easier to pretend we never saw it than to explain how it got there between your last visit and this one."

"Uh," the only thing Eddie could think to say as the sound of a high powered paper shredder filled the relatively small space.

"We never took that X-ray and, um, the sooner you can heal that _and_ the scar, the better. Alright?" Dan asked. That uncomfortable look back on his face alerting Venom that the physician was talking to _him_ again.

 **Soon as we get another meal in our belly.**

"Uh, right, Chief. First thing." Eddie said in answer for the both of them.

"Great. Excellent. Now, if you'll follow me, for our next piece of submittable evidence we'll be making a sonogram." Said the man in the well pressed button down. With a wave. Like some kind of tour guide.  
"Although," their conductor whispered just loudly enough for Anne and the two walking between him and her to hear, "if I _had_ seen such an X-ray, I'd say it must have been one hell of a break. And that I'm glad... you're a fast healer"

"Yeah, we _both_ are." Added Anne. With just as much sincere concern coloring her hushed voice.

Then the only two living humans who knew that when they addressed the man known as Eddie Brock, they were in fact talking to more than one being lifted a hand each and gave their patients' back a quick pat. The soft touch enough to impart a very real hint of compassion. And fondness.

That was when Venom understood that he and Eddie were well and truly in good hands.

Hm. Maybe that 'ultra sound' wouldn't be so bad after all.

 **Aw! Dan and Anne are so good to the poor, traumatized boys! Keeping the law off their back and their medical record squeaky clean!**

 **Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention, but this coming chapter is scheduled to be our last. The story is reaching its finale and I hope everyone's prepared to bid it a fond farewell!**


	9. The End

**The conclusion to our ridiculous duos' long and arduous journey back towards their personal semblance of 'normal'. Here's hoping they make it!**

At the end of the day, Venom was pleased to find that he hadn't died and that the ultrasound hadn't threatened to rip him apart on an atomic level. Eddie'd even gotten a lollipop out of the whole debacle. Though Venom was pretty sure that was just Dan taking pity on the hapless survivor. What with that dejected look Eddie couldn't wipe off their face. After hearing the extent of the soft tissue damage. And that they needed to wear the stupid sling at **least** three weeks. _And_ pretend to take the physical therapy their personal physician was prescribing. For the cover-up.

At least, to Venom's happy surprise, the 'imaging process' had merely tickled. And Anne was making some 'real headway' in her objective of having the multiple wrongful deaths case against them thrown out before it ever made it to trial. Stating she was 'surprised it was taking _this_ long' and that they should all 'err on the side of caution till it was'. Thrown out.

So it turned out that Dan was about as good at his job as Anne was at hers. Which is to say, now there were _two_ humans to which Venom would trust his life. And Eddie's.

Meantime, the two of them were free to fly their freak flag; doing all the things that any host-symbiote pair back home from a time away would. Like eating as many scumbags as they could stomach. Soon as the media spotlight turned its burning, **inquiring** gaze onto the next juicy story and stopped _following_ them to the convenience store anyway.

Well, to be fair, that _had_ only happened the once. And Anne had hit the schmuck with a restraining order before Eddie'd even shambled them back up the stairs home.  
Or she'd _threatened_ to convincingly enough to get it to stop. Either way: a human after Venom's black, imaginary little heart.

So they ended up only being low-key stalked by approximately four reporters. Who all knew better than to make any efforts towards direct engagement. Unless they wanted 'The Lawyer' coming down on them.

A few un-newsworthy days later and Venom was pretty sure their stalkers had dropped off their tail, one by one, like flies, when they'd seen from a _far_ that 'Mr. Brock' was just doing regular old, boring human things.  
In fact, the last parasite had disengaged about the time they'd picked up Eddie's prescription refill at the rundown corner store pharmacy near their place.

Just to be on the safe side, the symbiote reminded Eddie to at least read some of the instructions while they stopped in next door and ate a heaping cup of Nutella frozen yogurt. So they looked like normal folks. Folk? Eh.

Since the instructions pointed out that they were due another anti-inflammatory, Venom nodded as his human popped one in their mouth and downed it along with a generous spoonful of frozen, creamy, hazelnutty delight.  
 _Now_ they looked normal.

As he watched the tablet's progress down their gullet and into their bile and icy yogurt filled stomach, Venom kept his feelings concerning the thing to himself. Both the resentment, and the thankfulness. For, though he was glad the Dan doctor was able to keep Eddie comfortable with his 'medications', the symbiote hated the constant reminder of his own, situationally imposed impotency. And what it made him think about. The memories that it turned out were hard to ignore when the lights were out and it was time to sleep for the night. Swirling, whirling thoughts and memories of how useless he'd felt for so long. Out in that forest.

Instead, he let the stupid pill do its thing and focused on the pleasing taste of their frozen confection. Wishing he could lick the cup out when their spoon couldn't dredge up the dregs.  
Unfortunately, the film of deliciousness stayed at the bottom of their cup as it was tossed in a garbage receptacle. But Venom did his best not to pout about it as Eddie assured him they'd done the right, normal looking thing. And that he was pretty sure the day old bread was on the bakery shelf by then.

Venom snickered privately as they started off for the only place in town that didn't either donate or throw out their expired pastries. Eddie was just out of it enough that he bet he could sneak _two_ baguettes if he put his mind to it.  
Those ducks had no idea what was coming for them.

Venom hid his laughter when the cashier didn't notice the nearly three foot long paper wrapped contraband he'd sneaked up the back of his host's jacket.  
He _did_ laugh when he realized _Eddie_ hadn't either. Until they reached the park. And it fell out. And rolled down a hill.

Eddie was so impressed he didn't even try to impress upon Venom the inherent 'naughtiness' of stealing expired goods from a small business. Just picked it up and walked them and their well earned loot over to their favorite target practice spot.

It was just as much fun as Venom remembered. Even with a tired body and only one good arm.

As the last of the stale brick bread disappeared along with the duck they'd bullseyed, they heard a shout of "Mr. Brock?!", from somewhere not so far behind them. In stereo.  
Worse? They _recognized_ those annoying voices.

 **Uh-oh.** Venom commented. Knowing he could handle the situation if things went south.

" _Behave_ , Venom," Eddie begged as he turned them away from the pond to face their accusers.

Yep. It was those turd for brains park patrollers. The ones who had no idea how lucky they were to not _already_ be eaten and gone from their lowly, **annoying** stations.

As the nitwits came closer, Eddie forced their body to _not_ crouch as if on a hunt, and instead attempted to slip a friendly face in place. Which didn't work. For obvious reasons.  
"Hi, uh, officers." The words said more in question than in greeting. "If this is about the baguettes-"

 **We already threw them.** Venom cut in as he shut their mouth. Not about to let Eddie make excuses for their behavior. Not to those clowns anyway.

"No, no, that is like, _literally_ water under the bridge," said the first tasty morsel. Hands where they could see them.

"Yeah, Mr. Brock, we are just _so_ \- we're just glad that you came home safe," said the second in a... thankful tone? _What_?

"Yeah, it's good to have you back. You're a pillar of the community."

Okay. Now Venom was just confused. And had most likely been cheated out of an easy, _justified_ meal.

"Uh, what now?" Eddie asked of the bright faced weirdos. Voicing the understatement of the week.

"Oh, we noticed you didn't come by on your normal day to terrorize- uh, _feed_ the ducks," snack number one explained. Surprising both Venom and Eddie.  
Until Venom realized why.

 **Because these two had a sting organized to take us down.** Eddie nodded in agreement at his symbiote's excellent problem solving.

"Then, we saw the story on tv. That you'd gone down in a plane crash and..."

"We prayed for you." Added snack number two.

"And called to try and donate to the search efforts, but the phone bank was too busy." Said One. With a somber look.

"But then they found you! And your lawyer got you home, safe and sound!"

"And her dreamy fiancé slash doctor drove you to the hospital and-" Two bumped One in the ribs and the embarrassing story came to an abrupt end.

"Like we said, we're glad you're back, Mr. Brock." Two said. In a tone that didn't _sound_ like lying.

"Uh... thanks?" Said the guy who'd just gotten away with the heinous act of playing target practice with the park's precious water fowl. Scott free.

"Well, you have a lovely day, Mr. Brock. Enjoy the park!" One yelled. Excitedly.

And with that, Tweedledee and Tweedle _dumb_ were off. Probably to write someone a formal reprimand for putting a bottle in the wrong trash receptacle.  
Losers.

Figuring their good luck wasn't likely to hold out that much longer, Eddie pointed them in the direction of the closest exit and started moving. Before the weirdos came back and decided they needed to make a citizen's arrest. Or _worse_ : get their autograph.

"Hey, Eddie! Great to see ya back, pal!" Said some schmuck who occasionally shoulder checked them as he ran circles around the park. This time dodging them handily. Not even breaking stride. Nor sounding the least bit winded.

"Yeah, uh, you too," came Eddie's hapless reply. Accompanied by a wave. Which Venom turned into a nice little one finger salute. Just a half moment late for the jogger to catch.  
Damn.

"C'mon, Venom," said the wet blanket as he fisted up their hand. Having to _try_ to get it back down by their side. Seeing as the symbiote was disappointed no one else had seen. "There are children here, bud. We gotta keep it PG."

 ** _I_** **don't see any 'children'.** Venom said as he directed their gaze for the deserted play equipment. **Besides, we need to act out more. Otherwise we'll get old and boring.**

"What?" Asked his clueless partner in petty misdemeanors.

 **We'll end up like that sad woman in the movie Anne made us watch last night. Feeding pigeons. For 'tuppence a bag'.**

"Man, _you_ picked it and it's called Mary Poppins."

 **The nanny's voice was quite pleasing; the chimney sweep's accent was hideous.**

"Yeah, that's why they call it a Dick Van Dyke." Eddie said as he started them moving again.

 **What?** Venom asked as he let him.

"A bad accent? Dick Van Dyke played the chimney sweep, so they named bad accents after him."

 **Then is beautiful singing called a 'Julie Andrews'?** Venom scoffed when he felt surprise at his question. **I read the credits. When they have something interesting to say.** Venom defended.

"Uh-huh. Hey, why're you always picking the oldies when we have movie night, huh? There's plenty good stuff made post nineteen-sixty." Eddie asked. Pure curiosity.

 **...I enjoy learning your Earth history.** Venom admitted. _Not_ suddenly feeling self conscious.

"Oh, in that case, I gotta introduce you to the history channel." Eddie said with a little bounce to their step as he walked them around a bend in the barely cragged sidewalk.

 **You have been concealing from me a channel** ** _devoted_** **to history?** Venom asked. Feeling just a little betrayed.

"If I'd'a known you were interested, I would've shown it to you before." The human said in a guileless, earnest tone. One Venom couldn't growl at him for. Especially not when his host winced as an uneven edge in the concrete jarred their gait.  
Stupid sidewalk.

 **...How's the shoulder?** He asked. Knowing Eddie wouldn't take the sudden change of subject as a brush off.

"Eh, can't complain." The human lied as he wound them through a bench lined breezeway. "Be better after that one week check back."

 **Dan better not try to delay any longer. We might have to eat him if he tries.**

"Hey, no, Dan is our _friend_. Remember what we decided about friends?" Came the pejorative statement then question combo grown humans generally reserved for use on misbehaving children. Or dogs.

 **...We don't eat them.** Venom recited. From memory.

"We don't eat them...?" Eddie said in a 'you're not done yet, mister' sort of way.

 **Ever.**

"Right. Besides, Anne and Dan said, after this, we're Scott free."

 **Right. Free to continue acting for the sake of others like we're weak, pathetic, and injured. Good way to attract bad things.** Venom pointed out with a pout.

"Well, aren't we all about 'bad things'?" The human said in a hinting sort of way.

After a few moment's thought, Venom tugged them to a stop and pointed their eyes off to one side, right outside the park, thinking he'd caught sight of a miscreant thumbing open and closed a pocketknife in the shadowed recesses of a nearby back alley.  
Then, with a rumble, the symbiote posed a helpful suggestion. **Perhaps, being as 'weak' and 'injured' as we clearly are, we should take this rat infested, poorly lighted alley as a shortcut home?**

"Hungry?" Asked his intuitive human.

 ** _Starving._**

With a chuckle, Eddie pointed them down the dingy, darkened alley and stepped them into the gloom. Affecting a meek posture as he hunched to favor their left side in a way that would make both their physician _and_ lawyer cringe.

 **You've changed.** Venom couldn't help but venture. **You're starting to commit to the part. You're starting to** ** _enjoy_** **our outings.** The symbiote accused. Tone just a shade off from proud.

"That's why you love me." Eddie whispered. A smirk twitching their lips.

 **That's why you love** ** _me_** **.** Venom said with a happy growl. A second before someone with a Cajun accent, brandishing a slick, shiny switchblade, stepped at them from the shadows. Demanding they choose:

"Your money or your life?" Said in a way that made it sound like he was lying about the 'or' part.

"How 'bout **_your_** **life?** " They rebutted. Shedding their meek exterior in a blink. In favor of one more befitting the situation. Chuckling perfectly in sync when the sight of their symbiote half coming out to play made the pipsqueak drop the knife. And wet himself.

Things got _real_ fun though when the ignoramus thought throwing his _burnt out_ cigarette at them and dashing off in the opposite direction was gonna help him. At all.

" **Craving French?** " Venom asked. Feeling rather tentative as he took their first full length step in _so_ long.

'You aren't?' Eddie breezed back.

" ** _I_** **asked** ** _you_** **.** " The symbiote argued. Enjoying the way his voice rumbled in the open air.

'In that case: Bon appétit, mon chéri.'  
Venom rumbled as the endearment made his cells _glow_.

" **You always know just what to say.** " The symbiote admitted with a chuckle. Then he set their sights on a retreating leather jacketed back, bunched their body into a true hunting configuration, mindful of their hidden and protected yet _still_ injured shoulder, and **growled**. Loudly.

Venom loved the way that made the reprobate yelp as he tripped over his own feet in the gloom. Loved the way the maggot kept glancing back at them over his shoulder as he went down a second and a third time. Loved it almost as much as he loved the feeling of his generous host being host _ed_ for a change. The feeling of being in full, uncontested control of their hunt; of _them_ working together again. Properly. Out in the cool, putrid, alley air. Belly full of frozen yogurt, unnecessary medications, and anticipation.  
The promise of **victory** close at hand pushing him to move them just that last predatory bit _faster_.

They were close enough to touch the frantic thug when, in an impressive show of dexterity, he tripped over what appeared to be a dead rodent.  
Sounding like the cretin had managed to _twist_ something that time, they weren't surprised when the meal couldn't get back up. Though, not for lack of swear filled trying.

One more futile attempt and the wriggly criminal twisted to flop back down on his behind instead. Looking like he was searching the gloom of the middle distance for what his hindbrain _knew_ was coming. Obviously oblivious of what was mere feet in front his face.  
"Who are you?!" Shouted the slinking creep.

In the mood for a little theatricality, Venom flexed their impressive thorax just enough that the light of a lone, flickering bulb made their rippling musculature shine.  
 _Now_ he could see them. And the expression was **priceless**.

Salivating at the promise of **food** , they scooped the jerk up by the lapel and savored the scent of **fear** as they pulled a growl from somewhere close to their thrumming, _pumping_ heart.

When they could feel dinner's fragile spine **quake** , they opened their razor wreathed maw to give their meal a quick foretaste; tongue catching not unpleasantly on the several day stubble it found on the whimpering, pathetic face.

Then, staring into the eyes of someone who would happily have left them in a back alley to die of blood loss, they offered the chance for a few last words.

"W-what- _what_ are you?" Whimpered the idiot who'd made the last mistake of his life when he threatened to shank **them** for cash.

The question made them _**smile**_

" **We are Venom.** " They pronounced, loud and proud enough for the entire alley to hear, as their teeth began to drip with saliva.

Then they opened wide and let themselves **enjoy** as the screams of someone who knew he was staring his own immortality in the gullet echoed around in their throat, then got trapped inside along with the rest of the tasty criminal when their mouth closed with a satisfying click.

Followed closely by a gut rumbling, satisfying burp that broke from their throat and bounced around the unsanitary space.

" **Excuse us.** "

'Our compliments to the chef.'

Venom gave a chuckle and straightened their back to bring them well above their customary human height of _under_ six foot as they began a leisurely walk down the _literally_ rat infested alley.  
Realizing Eddie wasn't insisting to be 'let out' now that they'd had their exotic meal, Venom smiled and let the warm hope that his human might just trust him with their reputation put a little spring in their step.

Yeah, he thought as he kicked a large, _leaking_ bag of trash out of their way, unlike that sorry sack they'd just made a filling meal of, the two of them were going to be all right. So long as they had each other.

After all, they'd survived the gunrunner and her trigger happy bodyguards. Survived the exploding plane crash. Survived the starvation and the _squirrels_ and the nights spent sleeping on the ground. Survived the crippling injuries and the days spent starved into utter **uselessness**.  
Then they'd survived the rescue and the media circus and the pretending to be normal long enough to lose their remaining stalkers.

They'd survived it all and they were going to get over not being able to sleep at night. And those dreams about falling off cliffs. And that horrible thrill of terror that hit them anytime they realized they were **hungry**. Before they could remember they weren't in that damn forest anymore. Or the fact that, even if the whole, terrible, terrible thing happened again, they'd survive that too.

They were going to be fine- no, _better_ than fine. They were going to be _perfect_. Because... because Eddie forgave him for being the most useless loser of a symbiote to ever take a host and for getting them lost in the first place.  
And because he'd- Because Eddie'd _said_ it. More than once. Eddie'd said 'Love you, Venom,' and Venom had said it back. But the other way around- And they'd **meant** it. They _both_ _ **meant**_ it and that meant they were **unstoppable**.

At least, that's what all the movies said. That love made you stronger and helped folks overcome all kinds of impossible odds. And considering what kind of _hell_ they'd overcome and how much Venom _loved_ his soft, squishy, pathetic human, he'd be surprised if they weren't completely unkillable. In fact-

'Hey, Venom?' That voice he usually heard from _outside_ their head, tentative as it was, only made Venom surer: He **loved** his tiny, caring, _perfect_ , wreck of a journalist.

" **Yes, Eddie?** "

'...I can hear everything you're thinking right now.'

" **...Shit.** " The word unable to encompass just how... _shit_ things had just dipped.

'It's actually kinda cool. I think I'm starting to understand how the whole "you know everything I know" thing works. I'm literally inside your head, so-'

" **Out!** " Venom demanded as he promised himself that he _wasn't_ blushing. Nor absolutely primed to keel over out of sheer, **biting** , embarrassment. " **Get out of my head** ** _now_** **! Those are private thought-** "

'Huh, don't like it so much when the tables are turned? Well, maybe I'll just stick around for a little while. See what else I can hear-'

" **I said 'out' and I** ** _mean_** **ou-** "

'Uh, yeah, I don't really _go_ "out", bud. It's more like you go "in".'

Damn. The human had a point. So without further grousing, Venom regressed back to his favorite place inside his favorite human. Where he set his mind to forgetting what kind of ridiculous fool he'd made of himself. Twice in a row, no less.

The once again human sighed as his skin met the cooling, early evening air and Venom gave him a moment to get his bearings before he nudged him to continue them down the passage.

"Just so you know, you're right, Venom." Eddie said. Apropos of nothing.

 **?** All Venom could think in response.

"We _are_ going to be perfect." Eddie said as he stepped them out of the ridiculously long and disgusting alley. Onto a perfectly pleasant sidewalk amazingly not jammed to burst with pedestrians.  
"And I absolutely _do_."

 **?** The human was being obtuse on purpose, wasn't he? Venom hated it when he did-

"Love you, that is, Venom."

Oh. Heh, never mind. Turned out, Venom _didn't_ hate it when he did that.

"What say we go home? Check out the History channel and veg out for the rest of the night? Digest to some good tv?"

Venom rumbled at the well thought out plan. Until he thought up something that could make the night a _real_ success. **Can we pick up Tater Tots on the way back?**

"For you, Love, anything."

Venom didn't have anything to say in the face of _that_. Not anything that he hadn't already, basically, said. So instead, he kept his blush private and just enjoyed the absolutely **fluorescent** glow he suddenly couldn't smother.

Yeah, they were going to be fine alright, he thought as they walked through the door to Mrs. Chen's convenience store.

Just _fine_.

 **I've been told that Eddie calls Venom 'Love' in some of the comics. So... yeah. ;D**

 **I hope that was a sweet ending to this bitter battle for survival, self-discovery, and forgiveness.**  
 **Thanks for sticking it out and feel free to let me know whether everyone had as much fun with this story as this ridiculous author did! :D Peace!**


End file.
